Even If You Knew, What Would You Do?
by YaoiWhore
Summary: I just love dealing with other peoples' emotional problems...Psssh, yeah right. Sequel to "If Only You Knew." KakaNaru.
1. Prologue

_**Hello all and welcome (finally) to the sequel to "If Only You Knew," I have had a lot of people request that I write a sequel and normally I would simply respond with a great big "screw you," but since I have acknowledged that I did leave a lot of lose ends from the original I thought it only fitting that I do as requested, at least in this instance. This fic leaves off approximately a couple of weeks off of the other. Thanks to everyone who has read the original and I hope you stick around for the sequel.**_

**Prologue**

There are many things in the human world that I do not understand. I can't comprehend why women would go against their very natures and destroy the life they carried inside them. I cannot wrap my brain around what causes two people to fall in love.

As I lay in bed running my hand absently through Kaskashi's grey strands, I found myself pondering a great many things. The thing I didn't get was why? Why had Kakashi and I fallen in love, why was I questioning this newfound happiness, and why was I wondering why?

**Careful brat, **Kyuubi chose that moment to interject, **think too hard and you'll cause your brain to overload.**

_Ha, ha, ha, _I dryly quipped, _the joke is on you Kyuubi. We both share the same brain, remember? So it would be your mind at stake too._

Kyuubi grumbled, **freaking brat you think you're so smart….** I grinned.

Finally I had gotten the best of that nine-tailed menace.

Kakashi stirred in his sleep and made as if to turn over. Instead of going back to sleep I saw one silver eye open and look at me, an eye that was alert and wide awake.

"Why are you up this early?" Kakashi groaned out, the other eye joining his open one.

"Too much to think about," I looked at him, arching an eyebrow in question, "if you're still tired go back to sleep."

He sat up, stretching his whole body like a cat's.

"I'm awake now."

I snorted in derision at his behavior; Kakashi could be such a child sometimes.

"So what has you so worried?" His mismatched eyes were full of genuine worry as he looked at me.

"Mainly? The damn Chuunin exams. I'm not sure I'll be able to refrain from killing Uchiha or that pink-haired moron."

Kakashi let out a chuckle that soon grew into a full out laugh.

"I have confidence in you." He managed to get out between guffaws.

I rolled my eyes, _my man Kakashi, the epitome of maturity._

"So I suppose the fact that I'll be alone with Sasuke for days at a time makes no difference to you?"

He stopped laughing abruptly, his eyes taking on that familiar killer intent whenever something bothersome was placed in his path.

"That little bastard knows better to try anything in a Konoha-sanctioned event."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." I countered. "Sasuke isn't exactly thinking clearly these days."

Kakashi grabbed me and rolled our bodies so that he was on top.

"As long as he knows who you belong to." He growled possessively in my ear."

As per usual his voice sent shivers down my spine and brought my length to instant attention.

"Dammit Kakashi," I moaned, "we have a mission today."

"Don't worry," he panted, "I won't enter you." As his words ended he shifted his hips and brought his clothed erection down on mine.

"Ah." I gasped, the friction was so delicious.

I brought my hips up to meet his thrust.

"Naruto." Kashashi growled.

Release came quickly as it always did with Kakashi's ministrations. I still hadn't gotten used to the white that filled my vision when I came, and then there was the soaring sensation.

I heard Kakashi's quiet groan, indicating that he too had achieved release.

For a long moment I couldn't move; satiation filled every bone in my body.

Eventually the stickiness and sweat ick factor motivated me to pull myself out from under Kakashi.

"Where are you going?"

"To get a shower, I don't think I need the entire village to know the specifics of our relationship."

Kakashi's eyes widened.

"I didn't know you cared."

"I don't you buffoon! It's you that I am thinking about here!" Feeling irritated at my idiot's lack of common sense I headed to the shower, the hot spray sharply diminishing my earlier ire.

As I lathered shampoo into my hair I recalled the not-too-fond memory of Kakashi informing our Team of his decision to enter us into the Chuunin Exams.

"_WHAT?" For once Sakura and I had actually agreed on something, as much as it disgusted me to admit. Although our mutual shock was for very different reasons, I thanked the gods for that much at least._

"_The Hokage and I both agreed that you are all ready." Kakashi had continued nonchalantly as if we were discussing the fucking weather._

_Sasuke said nothing, evidently his mind was on something else, of which was no interest to me._

"_But sensei," I panicked in my idiotic persona's way, "what if we don't want to par—I mean do it?" I had asked, genuine distaste filling my mouth at the thought of moving up even further into the detestable shinobi ranks._

"_Well it won't matter." Kakashi deadpanned. "If you're truly not meant to succeed there it will work itself out." And with that the pervert went back to his porn._

Just remembering how efficiently that bastard had gotten the better of me never failed to cause a sharp sting of irritation at him.

Honestly if I didn't love the man….I flung my washcloth at the wall in frustration.

This was going to be a problem. The Chuunin exam was always hosted in Konoha, but other shinobi nations participated. Supposedly this exam was considered rather challenging as it challenged one body heart, and soul.

I turned the shower off, my musings having gone far past the water heater's ability to retain heat. I grabbed a nearby towel and aggressively toweled myself dry.

Yanking my clothes on I perused the main reasons I did not want to compete. First of all there was all that time I would be forced to spend with Sasuke. Great. Then there was that whole other teams from shinobi nations problem. You never know how perceptive some of them could be.

Grabbing my hated hitai-ate I tied it on and opened the door of the bathroom to let the room air out. Kakashi had already left and I shuddered to think of how badly he smelled without having had the luxury of a shower.

Ensuring that nothing was out of place I made the bed, almost missing the note he'd left me on the pillow.

_Naruto,_

_Went and bathed at the bathhouse. Remember to meet everyone at the Main Hall at Seven O'clock sharp. _

_~Kakashi~_

I rolled my eyes. _Of course how could I forget that the first part of the damn exam is today? _I popped my glamour into place ensuring that the fox man look was gone.

I made the appropriate signs once I opened the door and noted it was negative in the surrounding area of Anbu. A tunnel opened up underground and I jumped in pushing my chakra at the dirt to keep the tunnel going lest it collapse on me.

It was a bit draining to do this every time, but it did keep the people off my back who might otherwise have a problem with Kakashi having sexual relations with a twelve-year old.

As I pulled the door to where I was supposed to sleep open, I winced at how that sounded.

_I know the man is a pervert, but saying it like that just sounds dirty. _

**Chill brat, we both know that you ceased being a child long ago. Besides in this imbecilic village you are legally considered an adult once graduating from the Academy.**

_I know, but I just worry about what would happen to him if he got found out._

**I know you do, but he's a big boy he can handle it. Besides, **it chuckled, **I would be more worried about what would happen if the village found out about you.**

_Psssh, yeah right, _I scoffed while grabbing a few things I would need from the house before I went to meet the others. _We both know those morons will never figure it out, not until I am long gone anyway._

Realizing I had about fifteen minutes left I picked up the pace…until a child's voice stopped me.

"Put me down you big bully!"

Curiosity filling me, I came upon a very interesting scene. A taller-than-average kid with some freaky purple makeup on his face was holding the Hokage's grandson, Konohomaru, slightly off ground, his hands wrapped in the kid's collar.

"Is this what the great village of Konoha has to offer?" the made-up man sneered, the hood on top of his head with fake ears making him look even more ridiculous. "This exam is going to be a fucking cakewalk."

He had a companion with him, a blonde female with four pigtails, a large fan attached to her back. She looked bored with the whole affair.

However what interested me wasn't either of those two; it was the redheaded kid approaching from the north. He had a large gourd on his back, and a kanji tattoo on his forehead that read "love." It wasn't his look either that had my skin crawling.

It was the chakra, chakra that I hadn't felt in so long I had begun to give up hope.

_Kyuubi are you feeling this? _

**Of course! It's the one-tailed, Shukaku. Hmmm, this could be bad.**

_Why is that? Isn't this what we've been waiting for?_

**Well yes, the only drawback is that it's Shukaku; he's always been a bit….er, well on the unstable side.**

_Really?_

**Mhm.**

_Well let's not do anything to piss him off just yet until we know more._

**Good idea.**

Unfortunately that moron Sasuke chose that exact moment to fling a rock at the redhead, who caught hit midair.

Both Kyuubi and I had a similar thought. _**Fucking moron.**_

End of Prologue.


	2. Strange, Fascinating Creatures

_**I was actually inspired for the first time in a long time to write another chapter rather soon. And thanks to YaoiCookies87 and HaloGurl6423 who have read and reviewed every chapter so far. You two have been great. I am so happy to be inspired to write again. It feels like forever since I have actually been excited about writing anything.**_

**Strange Fascinating Creatures**

I watched as the rock that that idiot Sasuke had thrown flew toward the redhead with the strange penchant for tattoos.

**This could possibly be very bad, **Kyuubi warned as it observed the happenings of the current moment through my mind.

_You're telling me, _I agreed.

Seemingly out of nowhere the redhead grabbed the rock just as it would have hit him and crushed it into powder by simply squeezing it.

I did a double take when the kid's facial features were fully revealed.

Teal green eyes were surrounded by what looked to be black eyeliner. Kyuubi and I knew better. The kid's eyes narrowed in what looked to be blood thirst…and a bit maniacal.

_Didn't you say once long ago that Shukaku never slept?_

**Well yeah, he is a youkai, technically he doesn't need sleep. **Suddenly a growl filled every nuance of my mind; it was an angry and threatening sound. **Those bastards!**

_What is it Kyuubi?_

**Those bastards from Suna sealed Shukaku inside that kid, similar to the way I was sealed into you!**

Yeah this situation had just gotten worse.

I watched with bated breath to make sure this was a situation I wouldn't have to clean up. Shukaku was a youkai, and was therefore, my responsibility.

**These fucking humans kept trying to seal us up and ended up driving the person sealed with the youkai insane. **

The redhead had realized that Sasuke was the one who threw the rock. His eyes narrowed and then the corners of his mouth lifted in a sick little grin that made him look even more insane.

"What is your name?" he roared, unknowingly perhaps, unleashing massive amounts of chakra for a human. "Tell me your name!"

Sasuke seemed to realize for once that he had gotten in over his head. He was silent for a long moment as if trying to evaluate whether or not to answer. He finally managed to get out.

"Uchiha, Sasuke."

The red-haired kid seemed to be satisfied with that, but still felt the need to add.

"And I am Sabaku no Gaara! You would do well to remember it, for it will be the last name you hear as I listen the beautiful screams that will fill your lungs as I squeeze the life from you."

The redhead, Gaara, gave this creepy little shudder as if killing Sasuke was a turn on.

I will admit I was a little bit insulted that this youkai had completely ignored me and had gone for that stupid bastard instead. In fact he hadn't noticed me at all.

_Kyuubi should I interfere or not?_

**Best not, unless you feel like revealing us to everyone here right now. **

_Hmmm, good point. But still, shouldn't Gaara have noticed us?_

**Yeah he should have noticed something, but from what I can sense as long as that kid is awake, Shukaku's full abilities cannot manifest.**

_Is it my imagination or does it seem like he's a bit off?_

**Oh no, he's definitely off his rocker, but that's not the kid's fault. Whoever sealed Shukaku inside of him didn't do it right. As much as I loathe your father, **it sneered with distaste, **he did the sealing technique the way it was meant to be performed.**

_I see._

As I watched Gaara and his team walk away, I had a feeling that this was just the beginning of many headaches to come. And that Gaara would be the source.

Great, as though my life didn't already have enough excitement.

A soft _thump _from the tree next to me made me remember that I had more pressing matters than the youkai.

"So the dobe finally saw fit to honor us with his presence." Sasuke sarcastically drawled. "Too bad you missed the spectacle."

I turned around to face him.

"Are you an idiot—No wait don't answer that." I coldly observed. "Obviously you are an idiot, only an idiot wouldn't have noticed my presence here the entire time." Then I looked at him pointedly. "Of course you were busy making new friends, isn't that special?" I snickered sarcastically and started to walk away. "Be careful, your new friend seems like he can't decide whether to fuck you or fillet you."

Or rather I would have walked away if Sasuke hadn't suddenly grabbed me and put me back first into the trunk of the very tree he'd just jumped out of.

_Yeah this is so not happening again._

I pushed him off of me, aware that technically I couldn't hurt him due to the fact that he was part youkai. I did watch in some satisfaction as he fell on his ass. This time I got in his face.

"The days of you pushing me around are over." I snarled. "Get it through your thick mind. I. Don't. Want. You. Got it?"

I glared into his eyes to drive my point home.

That stupid bastard never could take a hint.

"No."

"No, what?" I growled menacingly my patience for dealing with him about at an end.

"No I won't give you up." He announced calmly as though it were a fact. "You were mine once, you'll be mine again."

Oh gods this delusional psycho made me want to pull my hair out! What would it take to get through to someone who wouldn't say no?

"You'll be waiting forever." I threw over my shoulder as I walked away, disgusted by being anywhere near him.

This time I didn't hurry. What was the point? It's not as though I gave as shit about the Chuunin Exams.

When I finally arrived Sakura and Sasuke were both there and both were glaring at me.

"What's the big idea Naruto?" Sakura shouted her mouth literally right in my face. "You are ten minutes late!"

I put my hand over my nose as her breath came into full contact with my already sensitive nose.

"Yeah whatever Sakura, sorry and all that. By the way have you been eating fish, because your breath fucking stinks." I said behind my palm, the smell really was quite bad.

Now her hand came up to cover her mouth.

"You are so rude Naruto!" she screamed behind her palm, though it was a bit muffled.

I pretended as though I couldn't understand her.

"I'm sorry Sakura, what did you say? I can't understand you."

Even Sasuke smirked a bit at that. Honestly, picking on Sakura had quickly become one of my favorite pastimes.

Sakura and Sasuke seemed to get serious all of a sudden. I guess they were remembering Kakashi's words.

"_Once you all meet up don't wait for me, I won't be joining you. The Main Hall is the entry to the exams to see if you three even qualify. You need to go to the third floor, once there you will be instructed on what to do next."_

Damn Kakashi and his elusiveness. My face grew warm; I would take it out on him later.

Approaching the stairs we all entered the building. Right away the jig was up. Someone had cast a genjutsu on the building so that we wouldn't realize the correct layout of the building.

I sighed, _this was it? The standards for Chuunin must be really low these days._

I followed the two boneheads and prayed that they would notice it soon too.

Unfortunately one of the other Teams decided to choose that moment to appear in front of us. This time it was a team from Konoha. _Hmmm, so we're keeping it in the family this time huh? _

The team consisted of a girl named Tenten whose specialty was weapons, a boy named Hyuuga, Neji so called prodigy from the Hyuuga clan, and Rock, Lee another boy. Lee had next to no chakra so he specialized in Taijutsu. Their Jounin team leader was Maito Guy, a man who sported a green spandex bodysuit, a bowl cut, and huge eyebrows.

Guy also specialized in Taijutsu and was known as the "Green Beast" of Konoha. He liked to strike these bizarre poses, complete with thumbs up and flashing his teeth.

I don't normally judge, I mean hey I prefer men too. But even I had to say that Guy was overwhelmingly "gay."

It was Lee who approached us, sporting all of his Maito, Guy Jr. glory. I rolled my eyes.

Couldn't Hyuuga and Tenten keep a better leash on their teammate? But no, the other two seemed content to simply stand back and watch in silent observation.

"Hello worthy adversaries! I wish to challenge Uchiha, Sasuke to a bout!"

Sasuke's eye visibly twitched at being addressed by someone who was clothed entirely in spandex.

Honestly this guy made even my orange jumpsuit look stylish.

As Lee struck his own carbon copy of the "nice guy" pose, I felt myself involuntarily shudder.

Even Sakura stood still mouth wide open in awe of this, well this. Especially as it approached her and wagged its eyebrows at her.

She screamed, not being able to get past the caterpillar-looking eyebrows.

Sasuke took that moment to answer Lee's challenge.

"Why should I fight you? There's no point."

Lee got surprisingly serious in that moment. He looked at Sasuke with all the severity of which he was capable.

"Because I want to prove that hard work can beat natural talent!"

Even my eyebrows shot up at that. _Hmmm, so he's got something to prove does he? This should be good._

"Go ahead Sasuke." I heard myself saying, "Fight him."

Sasuke turned and looked at me questioningly.

"Why should I?"

I lost what little patience I had left.

"What's the matter bastard? Are you scared?"

That did the trick. No sooner had the words left my mouth had Sasuke strode over to where Lee stood.

"Let's go."

It was over pretty quickly. Lee used a kick called the Lotus and Sasuke was on the ground unable to move. Although I had seen Sasuke activate the sharingan at the last minute.

Before Sasuke had the chance to do anything else a turtle appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

I recognized the turtle as one of Maito Guy's and turned to Sakura who was currently trying to nurse her little Sasuke back to health.

"We'd best get out of here." I advised. "We need to get up to the third floor."

Both seemed to agree with my words. Sasuke made his way shakily back on his feet and the three of us climbed the nearby flight of stairs.


	3. Finally Some Excitement

_**Finally Naruto will get excited about something. He has been bored with things for far too long…time to spice things up. Kakashi won't be present in the fic for awhile until after the forest part of the exam. After that the two will have a, well let's just say explosive reunion. Hehehehehe.**_

**Finally Some Excitement**

Running upstairs was proving to be a futile effort, which I should have realized sooner.

_This must be the work of the genjutsu, _I realized. The byakugan would really come in handy right now. The sharingan was really only good for copying techniques. _Damn Uchiha, useless again._

I sighed; _I guess I am going to have to help. _

Genjutsus really weren't that hard to break. A sudden burst of chakra would usually dispel the jutsu; not unlike a bubble popping under pressure. Of course this could fail or succeed depending on the chakra of the person who performed the jutsu.

Whoever had performed this particular genjutsu had been efficient, though they hadn't made it so difficult that an experienced genin couldn't break it.

I gathered my chakra, quickly glancing to ensure that Sasuke and Sakura were still busy trying to figure the conundrum out for themselves.

Sasuke was had his hand on the wall as if trying to find a switch or something of the sort. Sakura was sitting down with her knees drawn up, eyes clothes, as if willing the answer to come to her.

Satisfied that both were otherwise occupied, I quickly let my chakra out.

The genjutsu was released, and conveniently we were suddenly on the third floor.

_Well would you look at that, _I thought smugly.

"W-what happened?" Sakura screamed officially freaking out. "How on earth did we end up on the third floor?"

Sasuke, ever the chatty Cathy, said nothing. However, the glare he shot at me let me know that he knew I'd done something.

Fucking amateurs, if they simply paid more attention to their surroundings they would have sensed it too.

My attention was then diverted by a door located right under the third floor sign. The sign on the door read "Proctor's office."

"Come on." I threw over my shoulder at the other two. "We need to go in here to find out where to go next."

"How would you know Naruto?" Sakura demanded. "Besides, Kakashi-Sensei didn't leave you in charge, so what makes you think we'll listen to anything you say?" Then as if losing bravado, she turned to Sasuke for confirmation. "Right Sasuke?"

Sasuke gave her a withering look.

"Obviously Naruto is right. Quit acting like such a twit Sakura."

Sakura meekly nodded.

Honestly I was so sick of this shit.

"If you two are done debating this like it's the most important issue of the century, can we go now?" Not waiting for their reply I twisted the knob and opened the door…to a normal looking office.

Hagane Kotetsu, one of the Hokage's aides was sitting at the large desk located near the door. His eyes lit up with surprise at the sight of us before he could hide it.

Yet another person surprised that the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and his group had actually figured their little trick out. And Kotetsu's trick it was, for I could sense that this ignoramus was the one who had cast the genjutsu.

Of course, Kotetsu probably credited this triumph to Sasuke, as little to no success for anything was expected of me.

"…gratulations." I barely caught what Kotetsu had said and made sure to pay attention.

"You three have done a spectacular job. Honestly I expected more teams to be able to break my little trick." He rubbed his head self-consciously, while I wished he would just get on with it. "But anyway the three of you should proceed to the seventh floor for the next part of the exam."

The three of us made to do just that, but I guess Kotetsu thought Sasuke deserved an extra special pat on the back.

"Hey Uchiha!" he called out to Sasuke?"

Sasuke turned to look at him, arching an eyebrow in question.

"Good job. After all, we both know it was you who broke my genjutsu, right?"

The King, mad that one of his subjects had wasted his time by speaking to him only replied icily.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"What?"

Before we got dragged into further conversation I took off at a run, not really caring if the other two caught up or not.

As I ran I realized that yet again I had helped the two imbeciles. _Why does everything I do keep backfiring?_

The solution was obvious, I had to quit helping them, and resolve filled me at that thought. After all, every time I helped them my chances of being discovered increased dramatically.

When I'd reached the seventh floor I waited at the top for the others to catch up.

Both were in no hurry Sasuke had this triumphant smirk on his face as if he'd accomplished something great. Sakura too was beaming so brightly I expected her mother ship to show up at any moment.

Didn't these morons realize…. I smacked my head against the wall, and asked myself for what seemed like the millionth time. _Why me?_

I brought my head up and observed the area where Kotetsu had instructed us to go. _This is the seventh floor huh? _Surprisingly there were not tricks or techniques that needed dispelling, at least nothing I could detect.

In the hallway the three of us were currently in there was one door, and it was open.

Assuming this was where we needed to go I walked in and immediately observed.

There were quite a few teams that had apparently passed the entry exam. Although only about four teams from Konoha had made it.

The teams included ours, Maito Guy's, Yuhi Kurenai's, and Sarutobi Asuma's. The team from Suna was here too.

I felt myself frown as the one called Gaara passed me over to stare at Sasuke.

Oh well, at least I knew my glamour was working.

I went to sit down at one of the tables lined with chairs throughout the room, ensuring that it was as far away from Sasuke and Sakura as I could get. I would get some alone time whenever I could, especially seeing as I was going to be stuck with them for the duration of this exam.

I had just laid my head down on the table to take a rest when I sensed a pair of eyes on me.

From about ten feet away there was a grey-haired young man staring at me. I guess whatever look I was giving him he took as encouragement because the next thing I know he was approaching me.


	4. Enter the Douchebag

**Enter the Douchebag**

As the grey-haired stranger approached me I felt my skin crawl. This guy was giving me extremely bad vibes. He was harmless-looking enough. His hair was almost the same shade as Kakashi's. However, that was where all of the resemblance ended. He wore his hair tied back in a ponytail with the Konoha hitai ate tied over the forehead as per usual. His eyes were nothing special, the usual dark brown which was nothing surprising for this area of the world. He wore a shirt similar to Sasuke's. One of those gay wrap around polar necks, his was black and he wore black shorts to match.

As he got closer to me I felt the creepiness he seemed to emit get even worse.

I looked away, hoping the moron would get the hint and leave well enough alone.

This of course was too much to expect, because next thing I know a deep baritone was asking me.

"Excuse me, aren't you Uzumaki Naruto?"

I cringed before looking up to meet his eyes, a fake smile habitually pasted on my features.

"Yeah that's me!" I piped excited as usual for no reason at all, as my mask was wont to do. I made my face scrunch up in confusion. "Who're you?"

He smiled congenially enough, which in and of itself was a warning to me. No one ever approached me; it seemed I had an inner repel mechanism that worked on nearly everyone.

"I am Yakushi, Kabuto."

I smiled blankly as if the name meant nothing. Meanwhile, inside my head warning bells were going off. I knew of every shinobi in Konoha and he had always been a bit suspicious. This was his seventh attempt at the Chunin exams, and he always made it through to the second round and then withdrew for some reason or another, just before the third round.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

His smile faltered for a moment, and I observed his eyes trying their best not to roll in amazement that someone could actually be this stupid.

_Yeah just keep thinking that buddy. It'll make it all that much easier to figure out exactly what your game is._

"So," he finally went on, miraculously without having given into temptation, "this is your first time entering the Chunin exams, huh?"

_Duh moron. _

"Yeah!" I chimed gleefully. "Our sensei recommended us for some reason. I guess he thinks we're pretty tough."

His eyes did roll then.

_You think that's bad? Try having to come up with this shit._

"Uchiha Sasuke is on your team huh?" he harped, trying to appear nonchalant.

I felt myself still, _so that was his aim._

Immediately I scrunched my features in what I hoped mimicked pouting.

"Who wants to talk about that bastard with a stick up his ass?"

Kabuto's lip curled in disgust; evidently he didn't take kindly to me insulting the retarded Uchiha.

"That's a bit mean to say Uzumaki-kun. I mean everyone calls him a genius. After all, he is the last remaining Uchiha."

I didn't need to force myself to become indignant at that.

"Humph! You're just like everyone else! No one can see past stupid Sasuke and his stupid stupidness!"

Kabuto's eyes lit up with triumph, evidently his goal had been to determine that the rumors of my stupidity weren't false.

I smirked. _One thing I certainly hate is to disappoint._

His goal satisfied Kabuto acted as though he were studying other opponents, even though I knew he was just attempting to find a way out of further conversation with me.

Luckily his and my salvation came, albeit in funny shapes. Sasuke, Sakura, and the three other Konoha teams took that moment to walk up to us.

The others included Rock Lee, Tenten (of whose last name I still couldn't remember), Hyuuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, Nara Shikamaru, Akamichi Chouji, and Yamanaka Ino.

"If it isn't the class loser!" Kiba shouted, obnoxious as always, he approached me loudly. "Hey kid shouldn't you have ran crying from the room already?"

Kiba never failed to irritate me, if it hadn't been for the fact that it would have aroused suspicion I would have killed him a long time ago.

"If it isn't Kiba the smelly dog boy!" I shouted right back

However I then noticed growing feeling of discourse throughout the room.

I looked around and noticed that the Konoha group was getting an awful lot of attention, and not the good kind. The reason for this of course being that rookie genin hardly ever made it into the Chunin exams, much less nine of them and from the same village.

Mighto Gai's group had been held back a year, their sensei believing that it was far too soon to put his beloved team through such a taxing ordeal. Therefore, technically his team should be saved from the others' scrutiny.

Although here, technically wouldn't mean dog shit.

I observed that most of these other teams looked as though they had years of experience under their belt.

_Hmmm, this could possibly be a slight problem._

Kiba not being the sharpest tool in the shed, didn't notice any of this, seemingly content to try to and raise my ire.

"Honestly kid I can't believe they made you into a shinobi at all." he said in mock amazement. "If it had been up to me you would have been kicked out of the academy for being a failure long ago."

"Well I guess it's a good thing they don't let idiots decide such things." I couldn't stop myself from spouting, not realizing at first that I had stringed together a halfway decent insult, completely unlike my usual banter.

I looked away as I realized that except for Sasuke, everyone around me was gaping at with something akin to shock, including Kiba.

_Way to go Naruto, letting them know you have a brain was not in the plan. Shit how to fix this…_

"Anyway, man I wish I had some ramen right now!" I whined loudly, hoping this would throw everyone off.

It was partially effective, most looked away as if they had thought they were hearing things, some rolled their eyes.

However two people didn't look completely convinced. That was Nara Shikamaru and that bastard Kabuto.

_Oh well it's better than all of them. Shikamaru has always been smarter than he let on anyway._

Deciding that more evidence of my stupidity was needed, I targeted the entire room, of which the tension was only rising at our antics.

"I am going to beat all of you!" I exclaimed pointing a finger in their direction. "I am Uzumaki Naruto, remember that name!"

Gasps at my audacity and unmitigated gall could be heard from all over the room.

"Who the fuck does that kid think he is?" Some nin from the hidden cloud village gasped.

"Yeah right, a shrimp like him has no chance at all." Jeered Kankuro from Gaara of the Sand's group.

However, I was more worried about the reactions from the people around me.

"Way to go Naruto." Kiba complained. "Those guys were already itching to kick our asses before, and now you've guaranteed it."

Well at least the attention had been taken off of me, and that was all I cared about.

The next thing I knew the collar of my god awful jumpsuit was grabbed.

I saw the flash of a musical note indicating the shinobi was from the Sound village.

Before the blow from his fists could connect with my face, I was grabbed again, this time by Kabuto, and thrown out of the way, him having taken the place of my face as the blow coming from the sound Nin made contact with his ribs instead.

"I guess I missed." The sound Nin maliciously sneered. "Oh well, at least I still managed to hit one of those pieces of Konoha shit."

I rushed over to Kabuto knowing that the moron wasn't hurt, but hey it looked better if it looked as though I actually gave a shit.

"Are you all right Kabuto?" I made sure to scream in his ear. After all, he was groaning in pain as though all of the bones in his body had been broken.

_What a drama queen._

"Kabuto speak to me!" I screeched in worry into his ear, knowing full well that the sound shinobi had used some sort of sound wave attack to increase the damage his blow had dealt.

"I'm fine Uzumaki-kun." He murmured seemingly in a lot of pain. "But could you please stop shouting in my ear?"

"Sure!" I shouted one last time taking sick satisfaction in his pained grimace.

I aimed my gaze at the Sound shinobi whose name I think was Donzo, Dozu, or Poo as I decided would be his name from here on in.

"You bastard." I growled quietly enough for just him to hear. "That was a pretty mean thing to do Yakushi-san. Poo."

Poo's eyes bulged out in anger.

"How dare you, you little runt!" he exclaimed in rage. "Just wait, you'll be the first one I come after!"

I narrowed my eyes into a pathetic-looking glare.

"Bring it on Poo, bastards like you don't scare me."

"It's Dozu!"

"No, it's Poo from now on!"

"Your ass is mine you little shit!" he made as if to come after me, but his teammates hearing the commotion had restrained him.

His teammates, another guy whose name I couldn't remember and a girl whose name too escaped me, each held one of Poo's arms in their grip.

Said girl took that moment to look at me. She was normal looking enough, although the part where her gaze met mine and she brought her long, snake-like tongue to lick her lips was most decidedly not normal.

I felt myself get nauseous.

_That whole team is full of freaks. From mummy-wrapped Poo, to that freakish snake girl, the other guy looks normal enough, but with the other two oddities who really knows?_

I just grinned at the Sound team knowing full well that I had made a new enemy. Oh well just add it to my ever growing list.

Adding insult to injury, I gleefully flipped them off before turning back to the Konoha group.

"Naruto what do you think you're doing!" Sakura hissed embarrassed by her idiotic team member. "You are going to make us more of a target."

"Who cares?" I bit off. "It's not like we wouldn't have to eventually face them anyway."

"I know that!" she whined incessantly. "But there's still no need to antagonize them needlessly!"

And with that she burst into tears.

I just rolled my eyes, turning my attention back to Kabuto who had evidently made a miraculous recovery.

None of which the others in the group noticed, with the exception of Shikamaru whose eyes were now narrowed in suspicion, the same notion that had filled me upon meeting Kabuto.

_And the rest of these people have the gall to call themselves shinobi?_

Truly it was sad.

And I was more suspicious of the bastard than ever.

Especially when said grey-haired bastard chose that moment to creepily grin at the group.

"Hey guys, want to see something cool?"

I looked at him skeptically, as if this fool even knew the meaning of the word.

Everyone else signified their assent.

Kabuto pulled what appeared to be a deck of cards of his pocket.

"What are those?" Tenten asked curiously.

"They are cards on almost every ninja here." Kabuto replied smugly, openly looking at her with disdain as if she should have known that. "These cards have information on strengths, weaknesses, and how many missions of what ranks each has performed."

I was not at all impressed, but I tried not to let it show.

"So do you have one on me?" I deliberately bellowed into his ear.

He glowered at me in annoyance, and then as if remembering that he too was maintaining a façade, he wiped the expression off of his face and replaced it with an easygoing smile.

"Of course Uzumaki-kun."

He looked on the blank card in his hand, and I looked at him in bemusement.

"So where is it?"

Kabuto glared at me.

"I have to infuse it with my chakra first."

"Well do it then!" I prodded impatiently.

He huffed in annoyance, but held the card in his hand molding the chakra needed to activate it. Sure enough, my goofy shinobi profile picture showed up along with my statistics. At least the ones know publicly.

I laughed inwardly as my pathetic talents were put on display for the entire group.

"Wow Uzumaki-kun," Kabuto couldn't help but sneer, "you really are rather pathetic aren't you?"

"Don't call me that!" I insisted. "That stupid card is all wrong."

"My cards are never wrong." Kabuto retorted smugly.

"You just suck Naruto." Sakura taunted.

"That's true," Tenten agreed.

_Humans, _I thought with disgust, _further demonstrating how retarded and biased they can be.._

"So troublesome," Shikamaru drolled, in his own way trying to loosely defend me. "who cares what some card says. Underestimating an opponent has been the downfall of many a great shinobi."

Shikamaru and Chouji were the only two from my academy classes that I could honestly say never went out of their way to be cruel to me. Hinata too had never seemed to taunt me; she would usually just stammer and blush during the few times I spoke to her.

Evidently she also had a bit of a crush on me, although I would never encourage that. Eventually she would get over it, and then maybe realize that that idiot of an Inuzuka had liked her for forever.

The four teams of Konoha team seemed to disband after that, apparently Kabuto's "cool" little trick wasn't as awesome as he thought it was when coupled with Shikamaru's flawless logic.

It was then that I realized that that left me alone with Kabuto again.

_Dammit!_

I decided to have it out with this bastard even if I had to reveal a bit of my real personality. I had realized exactly who he was and now had a good idea of what he was up to.

"All right, let me guess." I drawled out not at all impressed with the ruse he had tried to play so far. "This has all been some attempt to gain my trust so that I'll give you information on Sasuke?"

His eyes widened as he absorbed what I said, and told me that I was definitely warm.

He finally seemed to be content to drop the façade now, because his eyes were lit with the creepiness that his whole person seemed to emit.

"So the retarded and clueless moron was all just an act?" He laughed as if finding one of his own jokes funny. "I must say that is a rather delicious twist."

"Yeah, I really am sorry to disappoint you," I replied coldly, "but evidently you can't read people quite as well as you thought."

Now those dark eyes narrowed in calculation.

"That's right." I mocked him openly. "I know who you are, and all about the bastard you work for. So how about we end the bullshit and you tell me exactly what it is that you want?"

His look of confusion brought a smirk to my face.

"Aw." I whispered loud enough for him to hear. "I would have thought Orochimaru-sama taught you better."

Now that got a response, he openly glared at me, all lingering traces of amicability completely vanished.

"You will tell me how you obtained that information, Jinchuuriki!" he hissed.

I didn't particularly like that word, especially since it was no longer the case.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours" I purred, antagonizing him purposely.

"Seriously, is it supposed to impress me that you know about that?" I calmly scoffed. "Trust me Kabuto, the info I have on you far outweighs that which you have on me. I could expose your treacherous ass right now if I wanted to."

Then I grinned.

His eyes filled with confusion.

"But what fun would that be?" I giggled. "I guess I'll see you later in the game Kabuto-chan, let's be great friends!"

I left him with that bemused look on his face, laughing the entire time.

Being underestimated was so much fun sometimes. The funny part was that I'd bluffed about knowing his goals. All I knew for sure was that the bastard was affiliated with Orochimaru, one of the three legendary Sannin.

I grew serious though as I remembered his words

"…_Jinchuuriki!"_

As if some piece of shit lackey was going to make me feel ashamed of Kyuubi. _Well as one of Orochimaru's little creepies, he wouldn't know anything about real strength anyway._

While a lot of people might argue that I was cursed because of Kyuubi, I knew I was blessed.

It especially came in handy with situations like this, where I may be taken advantage of if it weren't for Kyuubi's vast knowledge pool. Since we'd merged, Kyuubi's knowledge had become my own.

Of course I didn't know everything. For examplex what that bastard Orochimaru had planned.

Still, knowing a bit about the enemy was certainly better than knowing nothing at all.

A male voice brought me out of my reverie, I brought my head up and smiled at its source.

The owner of the voice spoke again.

"Everyone please take a seat, the first part of the Chuunin exams is about to begin."

And so was the fun.


	5. A Maddening Conversation

**A Maddening Conversation**

I smiled as the voice of Morino, Ibiki burst out of nowhere, causing several so-called shinobi around the room to jump.

Ibiki was the head of interrogation for the Anbu Black Ops and Konoha. The stories that Kyuubi had told me of his exploits had begrudgingly earned my respect, although wariness came hand in hand along with it.

That familiar wariness now filled me; _I'll have to be on my guard._

Apparently most of the others in the room were not so familiar with Morino's reputation. This was evident from the fact that some had ignored the hint of authority that occurred naturally in the steel of the voice and kept going about their conversation as though nothing had happened.

"I said the Chuunin Exam is about to begin!" Morino thundered this time.

_**Hmmmmpff I guess his patience isn't so legendary, **_Kyuubi mused, Morino's voice having awoken it from its slumber. It snickered as it saw the ones who had been mid conversation clam up like oysters protecting their pearls _**Still it's pretty funny to see how fast he can get those irritating brats to shut up. I should have taken lessons from him; I'd have been able to silence that smart mouth of yours-**_

_That's enough Kyuubi, _I growled at it, _we all know anyone else would have lost their sanity a long time ago having something like you in their minds. Hell half the time I wonder if I haven't already._

_**Psssh, see if I give you anymore advice, **_it was pouting, _**meh, I'm going back to sleep. Cheeky brat….**_

I just rolled my eyes as felt it go back to sleep. Realizing I was missing Ibiki explaining the fascinating rules of the exam I surmised that should probably pay attention?

"-So you'll answer all nine questions. And if ANY of you are caught cheating…" he eyed everyone meaningfully, "it won't just be you that gets eliminated, but your team as well! Do I make myself clear?"

At the audible gulps and hesitant nods he seemed satisfied.

I had to admit I was somewhat disappointed, so the intent was to cheat but not get caught. This was typical Morino; he had always been a sucker for the classics.

However, I was curious to gauge the reactions of those around me. I looked at my team first. The douche bag Sasuke seemed fine, Sakura looked a little nervous, which was stupid, she was goo d enough to ace pretty much any test.

The rest of the rookie nine seemed pretty relaxed; I guessed they'd already planned their strategy.

As I received my paper from one of the nearby officials who were to monitor us to ensure we weren't cheating, I scanned it to see just what kind of shitty test Ibiki had given us.

First of all I noticed that there were only nine questions, which was rather curious…. Second of all, the questions that were on the test were very much beyond the capabilities of most average genin.

_So I was right after all the intent is to gauge how well we can cheat without being caught. _

Of course this tested the shinobi ability to collect intelligence without being caught and usually without being seen. That couldn't be it though, that little trick was something a child could master in the first year of Academy. Especially not with Ibiki being the proctor, no there would be another part to this test and it wouldn't be something as easy as intelligence collection.

It was then that I noticed Hinata was eying me and then her paper, encouraging me to cheat. I guess she thought I was panicking about the test. I rolled my eyes; the little twit was going to get herself caught.

Then suddenly it hit me.

I almost laughed at loud as it happened. This whole test was simply a ruse, as sort of pretest before the real test. Well if Ibiki was going to play this game then it really didn't matter if I wrote any answers on his little test or not.

Of course Ibiki had explained that the tests would be scored by teams and the teams with the lowest scores would lose. As if to add pressure he'd also added that if even one team member didn't score any points then that team would be disqualified.

This was simply yet another deception to disguise the real point of the exercise.

Honestly it was better that I not write an answer anyway, it might look suspicious if the village idiot did well in anything.

Well I still had to keep appearances up, so I acted as though I was freaking out. I shook like a leaf and just sat there as though I had already been defeated.

Meanwhile I observed the officials almost constantly leading someone out due to their being caught.

Wondering how much longer I was going to have to keep this up I almost sighed with relief when Morino finally boomed out.

"Pencils down and turn your paper with the blank side up!"

With great relief I set my pencil down and waited for Ibiki's next move. Honestly I was going kill Kakashi for making me expend all of this effort on so pointless an endeavor. Even if our 'team' made it to the final round the chances of us being selected as Chuunin were slim to none.

As an audible nervous sigh made its way across the room from almost every person, I made sure that my face retained the façade of worry. After all, we couldn't have people thinking that Uzumaki Naruto was ever calm or confident about anything.

Apparently deciding that everyone that was left had squirmed enough, Ibiki finally stood up with a creepy little smirk on his face.

That didn't bode well.

"All right now!" Ibiki shouted, now it's time for the final question to the test!"

Gasps of indignation and complaints could be heard throughout the room.

"You mean it's not over yet?"

That comment earned an especially nasty glare from Morino.

"Silence!"

Then it went silent again.

"Now as I was saying…" Ibiki glared menacingly as if daring anyone to interrupt him again. "…the last question to the test. Before I ask it I want to make a few things clear. Anyone who decides to take a chance and answer it faces quite the little dilemma." He chuckled as if congratulating himself on his own genius.

I rolled my eyes…only to find Ibiki's gaze meeting mine.

_Oh shit, _quickly reverting back to my original expression of intense nervousness, I made my eyes meet the ground.

Through my lashes I could see Morino's eyes narrow in suspicion, but he went on.

"If you attempt to answer the question and get it wrong not only do you fail, but so does your whole team. Not only that but if you get if wrong you and your team will never be allowed to attempt the Chuunin Exam again." That self-satisfied smirk was on his face again at the roars of "not fairs" and "that's bull" rose to a rather loud roar.

"All right," he clapped his hands as if eager to get started, "those of you who are not going through with it raise your hands. The teammates of those who raise their hands must follow."

I narrowed my eyes, the final goal of this part of the exam now crystal clear. I had to applaud his ability to manipulate the emotions of others. _He truly isn't the head of Interrogations for nothing. _Now to see how effective his little ruse was.

Over half of the class soon emptied as people too cowardly to take a chance raised their hands. Most left the room with their heads hung down in shame.

As each person left the smirk on Morino's face grew. I felt myself getting a bit angry at his satisfaction. He'd won; there was no need for this smug behavior. _That's it._

I kept my eyes downcast to the ground and mirrored my posture to look defeated, adding a convincing trembling to my form.

Slowly I brought my arm up over my head, ignoring Sakura and even the bastard's gasps of shock.

Then in one motion I brought my gaze to meet Morino's and slammed my hand down on the desk.

"Psssh I'm going to be hokage one day!" My stupid usual self spat. "If you think some stupid question is going to make me give up than you've got a lot of learning to do! Now ask your stupid question!"

I winced at having to dumb down what I intended to say, but the message was still preserved, "fuck you, your little game isn't going to work on me." And although my words themselves might have seemed as half-baked as my mask I made sure my eyes got the message across.

Ibiki's eyes widened and then narrowed once again at my words.

However, across the room my words and anger were having an effect that I myself had not foreseen.

Fear was leaving everyone's posture and was being replaced with something that I could only identify as courage.

_**Way to rally the troops brat, **_Kyuubi chuckled, apparently amused by the unintended chain reaction my words has spurred, _**I must say I am rather shocked that you cared enough to utter such words, it's actually rather stirring.**_

_Oh please, _I scoffed at its analysis, _that bastard was just pissing me off with mind-fucking these poor amateurs. It was simply a way to prove that's he's not the only one who can play head games. Any other effect was simply chance._

Realizing I should probably pay attention to what was going on I brought myself back to the present and brought my eyes to meet Morino's…whose mouth was currently smiling.

I shuddered not liking the fact that he was smiling while meeting my gaze.

"Okay!" he shouted good naturedly, "You all pass!"

Shouts of joy and relief could be heard from all over the room as everyone left had cleared the first part of the Chuunin Exam.

Ibiki clearing his throat quieted the room down. Then he took off his forehead protector which was shaped as a bandana covering his entire scalp.

Horrified gasps were torn from the throats of everyone present; even I had to sympathize as I saw the damage someone had dealt this man.

Puncture marks and burns covered his scalp, honestly it was amazing he'd even survived such an ordeal, it must have been truly horrific.

_**Brat…**_Kyuubi's voice trailed off, knowing the situation hit a little bit too close to home for me.

_It's fine Kyuubi, _I nonchalantly responded, though I couldn't stop the brief flash of pain at remembering night after night of the villagers' torture and having to live through each moment of bones snapping and skin reknitting itself.

I blinked, willing the memories away. The last thing I needed to be doing right now was remembering those ridiculous memories. After all, it wasn't as though the villagers had actually ever had a chance of killing me.

Once again I felt Morino's eyes on mine before he spoke; however, this time I chose not to meet his. I definitely didn't need him to see me at all vulnerable, lest I give anything away.

Finally feeling his eyes leave me I felt confident enough to lift my eyes and listen to the lesson Morino obviously intended to impart.

"Let this serve as a warning to those of you who obtain the title "Chuunin." When leaving on missions carefully think through each decision you make. Also, you must be sure to face each decision with courage and confidence. After all, it's not just your life you're risking, but your teammates as well."

Suddenly a woman appeared in a whirlwind of leaves; I felt my eyes roll as she used a variety of jutsus to make a banner with her obnoxious name emblazoned across it.

Mitarashi, Anko.

_Oh shit, I guess they were going for Sado masochistic when they chose the proctor for the second part of the Exam._

I watched with little amusement as Anko brought a hand up over her eyes and surveyed the room.

Her cluck of disapproval greatly grating on my nerves, I was extremely relieved when she turned to Morino.

"Ibiki you let way too many pass this year!" she whined indignantly placing her hands on her hips, her eyes taking on a maniacal gleam. "That's all right," she purred disturbingly, "I'll cut that number down substantially."

"All right! " She screamed annoyingly. "Everyone follow me!"

Shaking their heads in annoyance everyone took off after her. I sighed, just as I was about to do the same a hand on my shoulder stopped me.

Morino Ibiki's.

I immediately tensed, I didn't like to be touched by anyone that I didn't know well, and Morino, Ibiki was not one of those people.

I calmed my body down and managed to ask in my usual stupid way.

"Whaddya need Morino-sensei?"

He turned me around to face him, his eyes dead serious.

"Drop the act kid, I'll admit you'd have anyone else fooled, but luckily I'm a lot harder than most."

Cursing my luck at coming across someone whose job it was to tear away deception I dropped my mask and let the real me take over. This was of course, with my glamour fully in place.

At the look of satisfaction in his eyes I just hoped it was enough to extinguish his interrogator nature.

"Are you satisfied now?" I asked, arching an eyebrow in question.

Both of his brows went up as if were confused.

"Far from it actually," he retorted. The grip he had on my shoulder tightened, "I want to know why you felt it necessary to create a fake personality in your home village. This is the one place where all masks should be eliminated, the one place where you can be yourself."

I felt a bitter laugh tear itself out of my throat.

"You know nothing about me Morino-_sensei_," I mocked, "and even if you did I don't give a flying fuck about what you want to know. The reason I act as I do has nothing to do with the well-being of Konoha which is what you're really worried about." The coldness of my voice at this point could have rivaled the arctic itself.

I felt that familiar coldness that used to be such a part of me threatening to take over as this asshole who knew nothing made as if to accuse me of treason. If he actually thought I gave a shit about the well-being of a village that made murderers their heroes than he was sadly mistaken.

His eyes narrowed now as if trying to formulate a method to break me.

I felt anger fill me.

"Don't you dare treat me like one of your fucking detainees whose minds you try to piece together like a puzzle after it's been broken!" I shouted at him, now angry, but luckily not angry enough to lose the grip I had on my glamour. The last thing I needed was this asshole knowing everything.

His eyes widened in shock as if no mere mortal could see through his genius methods of mental torture.

"What could you possibly know about my interrogation methods?" his eyes narrowed once again in suspicion.

I rolled my eyes.

"I really hate to break this to you Morino, but your oh-so-scary reputation precedes you. You really think anyone with a brain couldn't figure out the basic methodology of what you do?" I scoffed. "It doesn't take much imagination to play with people's minds and find out what makes them tick."

Suddenly out of nowhere he started to laugh.

I looked at him, I'm sure, like he'd lost what little mind he had left.

At seeing me gawk at him he laughed even harder.

Good God, the people in this village were fucking weird.

I crossed my arms across my chest waiting for him to finish.

One he'd calmed down he still maintained a smile.

"I like you kid." He proclaimed as if he'd just come to this decision. "I was just messing with you. Although I did want to see just what you were hiding under that façade of yours, and I have to say you don't disappoint. Seriously though, why do you hide the fact that you have a brain?"

"I have my reasons." I replied cautiously, not knowing if he was being serious or not.

He shrugged.

"Well, whatever." Then he glanced at the wall and cursed. "You'd best get going before you miss the crazy bitch's explanation of the next part of the exam."

I chuckled a bit at his analysis of Anko, it really was spot on.

I leapt through the window taking off in the direction everyone had left in. Before I took off, I looked back at Morino's figure.

_That is one person I will never figure out, _I chuckled as I thought of how he'd succeeded in making even me lose my cool, _I guess I still have a lot to learn. _

I realized I needed to go faster and picked up the pace, thinking of the conversation I'd had with a man I now thought of as a paradox.

**End of Chapter**

_Yet another chapter that took forever to put out. . Oh well, I refuse to rush a chapter out that I feel sucks balls. If you feel like it review, if not, meh whatever. _


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